Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of it's characters.
Deadly Temptation
Videl looked in awe at the sprawling urban center below them. Towering skyscrapers with their characteristic rounded and spherical tops littered the metropolis, forming a skyline that she immediately recognized. An intricate system of roads crisscrossed every corner of the area that housed the world's largest collection of people. Thousands upon thousands of cars clustered the streets, gaveling away the hectic life led by the residents of the megalopolis.
"What are we doing in West City?" Videl asked, her face pressed against the glass to get a better view.
"You'll see in a second," Gohan answered, beginning the landing sequence.
They steadily decelerated as they flew above the city, allowing Videl to take in the scenery. She had only visited West City once or twice, and the sheer size of the place still astounded her. People were everywhere—walking, driving, eating, shopping, working, and more. The size and density of the population was not something Videl was used to, having lived her whole life in the much smaller Orange Star City. It made her dizzy just thinking about the mass of humanity that was packed into such a small area.
Their plane was nearing a stop now as they passed a nearby building to reveal what was hiding on the other side. There, looming before her, was the massive dome structure that she had seen so many pictures of throughout her life. Videl gaped as they touched down right in front of it. …
Capsule Corporation headquarters!
"We're here," Gohan said nonchalantly as he opened the cockpit to let them out.
Videl was speechless. Disembarked from the plane, all she could do was look around in shock. They were literally standing at the front door of the richest and most important company in the entire world! Was this really happening? That question was immediately followed by another: Why were they there?
Before she could ask, however, Gohan had stored the jet and started up toward the front of the building. She rushed to catch up to him, pulling up alongside him just as he reached the entrance. She watched to see if he would have the audacity to knock on the door seemingly uninvited.
He didn't knock. No, instead, he pulled a card from his wallet and waved it in front of a scanner positioned to the right of the door. A light flashed green and he entered some sort of password on the accompanying keypad. There was a mechanical clank and a rush of air, and a dumbstruck Videl watched as the door to Capsule Corp opened before her very eyes.
"You wanted to know where I worked." Gohan said, and stepped across the threshold as if nothing were amiss.
Videl was momentarily paralyzed in shock. She eventually forced herself to move in order to keep her sensei in sight, but her body was moving only by rote. Her mind was busy processing these new developments and trying to figure out what it all meant.
Gohan worked at Capsule Corp, the most prestigious company in the world? Surely that was the only explanation, but it seemed so unreal. An ordinary high school student working in a place like this? Impossible! Of course, ordinary didn't really describe Gohan, but he was still just a high school student. Gohan certainly had some explaining to do!
As they moved through the complex, Videl watched Gohan with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance. Seriously, who was this guy? Not far into their journey, however, he suddenly stopped. Looking up, she saw a woman with short, blue hair and a lab coat. She was intently examining a clipboard in her hands as she walked.
Oh my god! Videl eyes widened in recognition. There, standing less than 10 feet away was arguably the richest, most powerful, most famous woman in the world—Bulma Briefs!
The world-famous scientist looked up. "Huh?" she mumbled and stared at them in confusion. As their faces finally registered, she suddenly exclaimed, "GOHAN!" and threw her arms around him.
Videl's jaw dropped. The president of Capsule Corp was hugging Gohan! What was going on? Did they know each other or something? I mean, sure, he apparently worked there, but that didn't explain why he was on a first name basis with Bulma Briefs, or why she was hugging him.
She rubbed her eyes, half expecting the entire scene would disappear and she would be back in her room, laughing at a crazy dream. But no matter what she did, the Bulma Briefs was still hugging her classmate like an old friend. It was too much for her.
"What's going on, Gohan?" she demanded impatiently, tired of being put off.
That could Bulma's attention. Letting go of Gohan, she glanced over at her. "And who might this young lady be, Gohan?"
"Uh…this is Videl. We go to school together," Gohan introduced. "Videl, this is—"
"I'm Bulma Briefs," she beat him to the punch, stepping forward to shake Videl's hand.
"It is an honor to meet you Ms. Briefs," Videl replied as steadily as she could, given the situation.
"Oh, none of that!" Bulma dispensed with the formalities. "Just Bulma is fine."
"Okay. Uh, Bulma," Videl said, feeling awkward addressing her so informally, "How do you know Gohan?"
"Oh, it's a long story, actually. You see…" Bulma trailed off and looked over her shoulder at Gohan, who looked a bit uncomfortable seeing the two women together. "You know, I think I'll just let Gohan tell you about that." She winked playfully at Videl. "Well, I better be off, so I'll leave you to it. It was nice meeting you, Videl."
She passed them and, waving them goodbye, started down the direction Gohan and Videl had come from. They watched as she traversed the hallway, taking a turn some way down and disappearing from sight. As the echo of her footsteps faded away, Videl turned to her companion and glared at him.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Gohan!" she said menacingly.
"I know," Gohan admitted, "I will explain everything soon. But right now, follow me."
He immediately continued his previous path, forcing Videl to follow him or else be left behind in the maze that was Capsule Corp. Fortunately, it didn't take much longer for them to arrive at their destination.
The door was unremarkable. Completely white with the crisscrossing pattern that revealed the underlying support, it was just like countless others they had seen. On the wall was painted in red letters "GR-01," apparently some sort of identification. Here, Gohan again presented his ID card and inputted another code. The door glided open smoothly.
"After you," Gohan said, motioning for her to enter.
"What is this place?" she asked, looking around in wonder as she walked through the door.
Inside, the room was shaped like a giant dome with no windows. The walls were solid white, which only made the gaudy red tile of the floor stand out more. And in the center was the room's most distinguishing feature: an enormous column with an impressive control panel at its base.
"This is where we'll be training today," Gohan explained. "Before we do that, though, I need to go see Bulma."
She spun around and scowled at him. "Oh no you don't! I'm sick of waiting. You're going to give me answers now!"
But Gohan did not back down beneath her withering gaze.
"Videl," he reassured her calmly, "I promise I will tell you everything you want to know as soon as I get back. But right now, I really need to talk with Bulma."
She remained unconvinced. It seemed like another way for him to get out of answering her questions. And after being left in the dark all day, she had little tolerance for excuses.
"It's for your training," Gohan continued in an effort to placate her. Videl glowered at him for several more seconds, but ultimately relented.
"Fine," she muttered.
"Good. While I'm gone, work on your meditation. This quiet environment will help you focus, but it's still up to you to control your mind."
"Right." Videl nodded, indicating she understood.
"Okay, then." Gohan turned to leave. Just before he passed through the door, though, he stopped and looked back. "And Videl?"
"Yeah?"
"Whatever you do, do not touch those controls," he warned. "You could easily die."
She glanced back at the strange column she had noticed when she first came into the room. It had of course intrigued her, and despite their dire meaning, Gohan's ominous words only redoubled her curiosity. What exactly was this room for? Yet another mystery in an ever expanding list of questions to be answered.
"I won't," she promised, but the temptation was already growing to test his warning. Gohan looked unsure, but he said nothing else and left her to herself.
Videl did do as her sensei had instructed her, at least at first. She sat down on the hard floor and crossed her legs into a half-lotus. Her hands were folded in her lap as she had seen Gohan do many times. The result was she looked very much like someone deep in meditation—on the outside.
On the inside, she was far from the inner peace she was supposed to be seeking. All she could think about was the many curve balls she had been thrown that day—Gohan entering Capsule Corp, Bulma Briefs hugging him and talking like she'd known him all her life, the unusual room she sat in…
That last one, especially, was constantly nagging at her. It was the one thing she could investigate on her own, without needing to rely on Gohan for information. The control panel was right there behind her, just waiting for her to discover its secrets. It would be so easy, and Gohan would never know.
But no, she couldn't disobey him just hours after promising to trust him. She did everything she could to ignore it and focus on her meditation. And for a few minutes, that worked. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the pillar behind her out of her head. Having it so close was maddening. She wanted to know what it did!
Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore. She had to at least have a look. Maybe she could figure something out just from that. So, rising from her spot on the floor, she turned and leaned over the main controls of the room. She was stunned by the array of buttons, knobs, sliders, and various displays. As she tried to orient herself in the complex controls, her eyes focused on what appeared to be the main monitor, which read "001 G" in large characters.
Curious what that could mean, she took a closer look. A small line of print reading "Main Control" was etched above it, and below was a numeric keypad, which she guessed was how one operated the machine. Her hand moved almost automatically, her fingers coming to rest on the smooth key of their own accord. This was it. Just a press of a button, and…
She hesitated.
Gohan had warned her not to touch anything—he said she could die, in fact. But surely he was just overreacting … right? After all, she wasn't your average frail little girl. She was Videl Satan, the daughter of the man who beat Cell. There was nothing she couldn't handle, she thought.
Nevertheless, she wouldn't be stupid. Even the supremely confident Videl Satan knew how to be cautious when necessary. She reasoned that everything seemed normal with the readout at 1. Logically, then, it would be wiser to start with lower numbers and see what happened before moving up. So, steeling herself, she pressed the number '2' and immediately tensed.
Nothing happened.
Confused, she looked back at the screen—surely enough, it now read "002 G," but nothing seemed different. Perhaps that wasn't enough of an increase to make a difference? Trying to kick it up a notch, she pressed '3.' The monitor now showed "023 G," which made her pause.
Then, Videl noticed for the first time that the numbers were flashing. With that realization, she suddenly saw a square, red button immediately next to the main keypad. For all that build up, she had yet to actually input the changes she made. Angry with herself for failing to notice something so obvious, she slammed her hand down—right on the button.
An immense pressure surged down on her. Instantaneously, her legs buckled she crashed painfully to the floor. She was pressed flat into the floor by an enormous weight that made it impossible to move a muscle. It was like she was being crushed underneath an enormous block of cement or, better yet, an entire building.
There was no fighting it. She struggled to breathe with her uncooperative lungs. Each shallow breath became more and more strained as she labored to take in air. It wasn't enough, though. Soon, her vision began to dim. She wasn't getting enough oxygen. Her lungs just weren't strong enough, and neither was her heart.
Within seconds, everything began to go dark and she knew that she was moments away from passing out. Then she would die, just as Gohan had warned her. She had been stupid to think she could resist touching the controls, stupid to ignore Gohan, stupid to let herself get so frustrated, and stupid press that button without thinking.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Everything she had worked for and strived after … it was all for nothing! She was going to die, and she had no one to blame but herself.
A tear rolled down her cheek as darkness overcame her.
"Thank you," Gohan told Bulma as pocketed the capsule she had just given him, "This is perfect."
"No problem, Gohan. Anything for my favorite godson," Bulma replied cheerfully. "Now … Tell me about this girl—Videl, is it?"
Gohan groaned silently, but nodded. She had a mischievous look on her face that he did not like.
"So tell me, is she your girlfriend?"
Sighing, Gohan responded as calmly as he could, "We're just classmates. I agreed to train her. That's all."
"Mm-hmm…" Bulma looked at him knowingly. "You like her, don't you?"
"Wha—? No!" he denied. "I just—" Gohan stopped abruptly as he felt Videl's ki plummet.
Oh no. His fears had come to pass. He said nothing to Bulma as he hurled himself out the door and sprinted back to the gravity room.
No. No. No. No. No. The one word replayed in his mind over and over again as he ran.
No! No! No! No! No! His silent screams grew louder and louder with each step even as he grew closer and closer to the room where Videl lay dying.
NO! He reached the door, cursing the fact that he lacked the strength to force it open.
NO! He pulled out his ID.
NO! He furiously punched in the password.
"NO!" He cried aloud as he burst into the room. His eyes immediately locked onto the limp figure on the floor.
His heart sank.
"No…" he choked out feebly.
He rushed to Videl's side. Her energy was undetectable by now, but she could still be alive. She had to be!
Shakily, he placed his first two fingers on the side of her neck. ... There is was! It was faint, but he could definitely feel a pulse, and it seemed to be getting stronger. Gohan let out the pent-up breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. She was alive!
Relief swept over him, ceasing the steady flow of adrenaline that had been coursing through his body. He suddenly felt completely sapped of energy. Gathering Videl in his arms, he sat on the ground and simply held her. The warmth of her skin, the rise and fall of her chest. It was all precious to him, reassurances that she was still alive.
Gohan couldn't stop them. The tears began to flow.
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